myths of bilingual education

Raising children bilingually is sometimes believed to cause language delay. This misconception is based on a separate underlying proficiency (SUP) hypothesis. This theory, now discredited, suggests that languages are stored in separate compartments or containers, which represent half the capacity of the monolingual brain. These ‘containers’ have limited storage space, and, as the brain cannot hold so much information, it ‘elbows out’ the other language. This has resulted in well-meaning professionals recommending that parents stop speaking one of their languages to their children in order to make space for the language of the school or community. Usually, the one that goes is the language of the home, the child’s mother tongue.

​Decades of research into bi- and multilingualism has shown that there is no causal relationship between bilingualism and language delay. Language delay has other causes, which are not linked to the fact that a child speaks more than one language. What these studies have shown is that bilingual children reach the same language milestones at the same time as monolingual children. As for bilingual children with language-related problems, such as dyslexia, they are not proportionally more numerous than monolingual children with the same challenges. Ultimately, raising children bilingually neither increases nor reduces the chance of language delay. So, let’s hold on to those mother tongues!

2. My child will mix the languages.

Yes, some mixing will occur, but it is both harmless and temporary. As the child increases her vocabulary in each language, this phenomenon automatically disappears, just as a monolingual child will automatically fix mistakes after correct usage is learned. For example, children who are only learning English often begin by saying, "Me want" rather than "I want." Eventually, they learn what is correct. The same is true of multilingual children. Of course, the less you mix the languages yourself and the more consistent you are when speaking to your child, the less your child will mix.